Rules and Spirit
Beach Ultimate is played in three formats: Open (men), Women, and Mixed (co-ed). In addition to the regular divisions where there are no age limits on the players, there are also Master (W30+/M33+), Grandmaster (40+), and Great GrandMaster (50+) divisions.
BULA recognizes two different sets of rules: 4-on-4-Beach Ultimate and 5-on-5 Beach Ultimate. Both are aligned with the WFDF Official Rules of (grass) Ultimate.
The BULA and WFDF World Championships, as well as most leagues and tournaments worldwide, are played 5-on-5. On the other hand the biggest Beach Ultimate event in the world, Wildwood, and well as the legendary Boracay Open in the Philippines are played 4-on-4.
Spirit of the Game Scoring
BULA recognizes that Spirit of the Game (SOTG) is a pillar of disc sports and all BULA Recommended events use a system to teach and celebrate good Spirit. The most common system is the official WFDF & BULA Spirit of the Game scoring system. This scoring system took over 10 years to develop and has grown into a comprehensive Spirit evaluation and educational tool with great examples. However, there are some other scoring systems such as the Sushi Sheet meant more for fun and hat tournaments.
A Spirit Circle after the game in meant to encourage discussion of possible issues that arose during the game, encourages positive feedback, and creates better understanding between players.
Useful resources:
- 2019 rules for 5-on-5-Beach Ultimate
- Championships Appendix for 5-on-5 Beach Ultimate
- The WFDF rules section with videos, pocket guides, etc…
- The WFDF Spirit of the Game section with videos, score sheets, and examples
- Examples how to score the Spirit of the other team
- Video: How to play Beach Ultimate with Arabic subtitles